Just a Little Further
by educated-moron
Summary: When Lucius makes plans to expand the factory into another town, Heloise is forced to "help out". Everything seems to be going according to plan, but when Heloise meets a new, somewhat familiar, creature, things take a turn for the worst.
1. Chapter 1

This is a little story I'm fiddling around with. Please excuse the beginning; I'm not very good with those.

Leave a comment! If you want me to continue you'll have to pressure me, or I'll procrastinate and never get around to it.

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Chapter 1

"_Just a little further… Just a few more adjustments…" _The words seemed to replay themselves over and over through the girl's mind. In truth, they were practically the only things that were keeping her going.

It wasn't always like this; usually Heloise was always very proud of her work, treating her various experiments and inventions like fine pieces of art deserving every bit of her attention. But this time was different. She had been working on this particular project for almost a month now, whereas her average completion time was only a few hours, or a day at the most – with regards to a few of her own more secretive projects (Such as the time when she was working on her "brain-wave dolls", which took a little over a week).

But this wasn't anything special. A giant ray gun. As if it hadn't been done before! Compared to her other projects it was quite lame. The only reason she had been working on it so much was because her boss, Lucius, kept forcing her adding adjustments. She could hear him now:

"_More lasers. Make the lights more menacing. I want it to be huge! Bigger! Where are all the buttons? How is a death machine supposed to be complicated if it only has three buttons? I want it bigger! You decided to paint it THAT color?"_

The stupid oaf. Didn't he know that ray guns were cheap and outdated? With all the time she had been spending on the practically useless machine, though she hated to admit it, but she was pretty sure she was starting to go insane.

"Gah, a ray gun! Of all things…" She put down the welder she was holding and sighed unhappily. "I need a break."

As if on cue, the laboratory doors flew open and in skipped the always happy Jimmy Two-Shoes.

"Hey Heloise! Whatcha working on?" Heloise growled, and Jimmy rolled his eyes. "Ooohh, we're still building that thing, huh?"

He zipped up closer to the machine and began to examine the keypad with a child-like interest. "Wow, Heloise! This thing is cool! Look at all these buttons! I don't know why you're getting all stressed out over it… Oh! What does this one do?"

Heloise glared at the enormous keypad with disgust. Most of the buttons had almost no purpose, and she felt slightly embarrassed of them.

"That one…" She sighed. "That one makes it make a… scary… sound." She dropped her head in shame and waited for the ridicule to come. Instead, she heard cheers.

"Whoa! Really? That's so cool! What type of sound? Does it sound like a machine gun?" He doubled over and imitated a soldier firing over a barricade. "Bam! Buh-buh-bam! Pow!" Heloise stared at him.

"Or maybe, does it sound like a, uh, oh! A dinosaur!" With that, he jumped to his feet, threw his hands up, and began stalking around the lab. "Grrrrrr… Or, or, is it like a… Oh a WEAVIL!" He suddenly threw himself at Heloise.

"Gah! Jimmy! Get off me!" Annoyed, she shoved the chattering over-grown weasel boy off her shoulders and back onto the floor.

Jimmy screwed up his face, gave Heloise an evil look, and began to shake his fist. "Neh, neh, I'm an angry weevil, neh!"

Heloise smiled. No matter how annoying he could be at times, the boy always seemed to know how to cheer her up. "Yeah, I bet Lucius _would_ be afraid of that! Maybe then he let me stop."

Jimmy stood up and brushed himself off calmly. "Lucy's being unreasonable again?" She nodded. Jimmy stepped back and examined the gun. He studied to closely, eyes going over every little detail, while Heloise studied him, eagerly awaiting a response. After a moment, the young human began to open his mouth, and Heloise felt herself start to get jumpy, hoping he had something good and thoughtful to say about her work.

His moth opened wider and wider, and he sucked in a breath. Heloise crossed her fingers and began to pray to herself, _"Please let him like it. Please, please, please…." _Jimmy's mouth continued to open. A few minutes passed and Heloise grew more impatient. "How big does his mouth need to be for him to talk?" She mumbled to herself.

Jimmy took in another loud breath and cleared his throat. "Ahem. I think... Where's Beezy?"

Heloise slapped her face. Beezy? She waits fifteen minutes for his critique, one of the ONLY critiques she would ever care about, and instead he brings up THAT lump? What? She growled, "I'm afraid I wouldn't know that, Jimmy. Now could you please tell me what you think of my machine?" She gestured to the gun.

"Oh, yeah, sorry." He cleared his throat. "Ahem. I think -"

"**HE**_**L**_**O**_**I**_**S**_**E!**_**" **

The girl cringed and looked up. "Ugh, hello Lucius."

"It's Mr. Heinous the VII, to you. That, or sir. I'm also accepting Your Highness, Your Greatness, Your Terribleness, Great and Terrible Leader, o' Great Master of Evilness, Fuhrer, and my Lord." He leaned back in his chair and tilted his head back so that his nose was in the air, oblivious to how much the camera made his wrinkles… Pop. Poor Heloise hated the screens, because for one thing, they were an invasion of her privacy. For another, each time Lucius turned one on to speak with her she received an experience worse than watching a 3D movie about angry pile of talking manure.

She eyed the screen and frowned. "You already know I'll never give you that kind of respect. You're much too small for such titles. " She giggled, "Oh man, your own name is even longer than you are!"

It was his turn to frown. "Oh yeah? Well I think –"

"HEY LUCY! HOW ARE YOU DOING?"

"Shut up you insolent boy! And don't call me Lu –"

"Oh I don't know," Heloise chuckled, "That name seems to suit you well, Lucy."

Lucius growled. "Enough of that! Just forget I even brought names up!" He calmed himself, regaining his business face and cool mood. "Heloise, I need you to take a break from the doom machine for a moment and do something for me."

The girl rolled her rolled her eyes. "Amazing. He finally wants me to stop."

The devil narrowed his eyes. "For the moment, but then I want you to return to it as soon as possible. There's no reason that such a simple contraption should take so much time to build. And judging from the paint job you decided to give it," he eyed the machine, "you still have a lot of work to do. _Blue? _You honestly think I wanted it to be painted _blue?_ Change it! And what is with all the buttons? I'll never be able to remember what each one does! Get rid of them!"

All Heloise could do was sigh.

"In other news, I've decided to expand my business. Miseryville just isn't big enough anymore. I've arranged a meeting with the mayor of a neighboring city discussing the possible construction of another factory there. There's plenty of room to building; I plan on just enslaving anyone who lives in the way. And what's more is that 'Factory B' is going to be even bigger than the old one! Just think, my name will be known everywhere! The infinite genius of my terrible inventions and torturous experiments will feared by everyone! No one will get my mercy! No one is safe from my wrath! Oh, it's going to be wonderful!"

Heloise quirked a brow. "And what about this other guy? I've never thought of you as someone who was good at sharing. Can you really work with him?"

Lucius huffed. "Of course I can! Or at least for as I have to. In time, when I have gained his trust, I will turn on him and take over the entire town! Miseryville will be bigger than ever!"

"Well, how do you know he won't turn on you?"

Lucius moved his attention to Jimmy. "And why would he do that?"

The blond shrugged. "I dunno. I just thought that, you know, _you_ want to expand Misery Inc.; _he_ wants to expand Misery Inc. _You_ want to crush people's houses; _he _wants to crush people's houses. You two sound like you've got a lot in common. If _you_ wanted to take over his land, wouldn't _he_ want to take over yours, too?"

Heloise smiled and hid her blush. Rare moments like this when Jimmy used his brain were always gratifying ones. It made her feel like she was rubbing off on him.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Lucius' laughter. She looked up to the screen to see him leaning forward in his chair, looking very amused. "Who, Bob? No, he's a big softie! Why, I'm surprised he agreed to even have a meeting at all! Perhaps he's a bit dimmer than I thought and didn't know what the meaning of misery was!"

The old monster began howling with laughter. Heloise suddenly realized that they were starting to lead off track and decided to get back to the point. Her break was approaching, and she didn't want to spend it chatting about a sweet business man named Bob.

"Uh, Lucius? What does this have to do with me?"

Lucius stopped laughing. "What?"

"Well, what do you want me to do?"

"What do you THINK I want you to do?

"Design blueprints for Factory B?"

Lucius shook his head. "I've already got guys working on that."

"Come up with plans to over-throw Mayor Bob?"

"No."

She thought for a moment.

"...Finish the ray gun?"

"No!"

"Then what?"

"I want you to speak with a therapist!" Lucius spat the words out at her as if she should have known all along. He had begun casually fiddling with a few of the papers on his desk when he noticed that the girl was looking at him as if he was insane. It took him a moment to register. "Bob's therapist!" He grunted, slapping his forehead. He heard Heloise 'oh' quietly. "I need you to talk to him about Bob's mental state. I don't want to be working with a nutcase and end up in a hole in his living room putting lotion on just because I didn't know what was wrong with him."

"I thought you said he was a softie?" Jimmy questioned.

"There are plenty of people in the world who seem to be okay at first and then turn out to be angry bears who's only wishes in life are to rise to the top, torture and kill people, destroy the planet, lie… Steal… Spend money on useless things… And ignore their boyfriends. Just look at Jez."

Jimmy chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Yeah, only I don't think _Bob_ is going to be ignoring his boyfriend. Maybe a girlfriend…"

Lucius shrugged. "Who knows? He might be into that sort of thing. Plenty of people are these days, I mean, I've always had my doubts about Sammy. And what if he _doesn't_ have a boyfriend and starts to hit on _me?_ See? These are the things I need you to find out, Heloise."

Aggravated, the young monster felt her face start to go red. "Why do I have to do it? I've been working all month on this STUPID machine and STILL have to continue for WHO KNOWS how long because NOTHING I do seems to PLEASE you! I can't afford to waste any more time doing anything else! I need to get this thing done! The idiocy of the entire project you have been forcing me to build is driving me to pieces! I've completely burned out my fuse when it comes to this thing and, frankly, I just want to be DONE! LET ME FINISH THE DAMN MACHINE, AND THEN I'LL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT! AFTER ALL, WHAT ELSE DO I HAVE TO LIVE FOR?"

Lucius studied her calmly and chuckled. "Relax, Heloise. There's really no need for you to throw a tantrum. My, I never thought I'd see the day when you acted your age."

Heloise grunted.

Lucius took this as a sign of embarrassment and continued. "Did it ever occur to you that I may just be trying to get under your skin? That the color of the machine has no purpose at all?"

Heloise looked away. "Well, I thought about it, but –" She hesitated. After a moment her eyes grew wide and face went back to red."Wait… You mean I just did all that work for NOTHING?" Her voice boomed and echoed off the walls with a crazed, maniac shriek.

Jimmy leapt back and watched in horror as her teeth became bloodthirsty razors and her eyes turned into vicious fireballs. "Heloise! WAIT! Don't hurt me, j-just calm down! I didn't do anything!"

Meanwhile, Lucius was laughing so hard he was crying. "Oh, oh, Heloise! Stop it! Ah-ha! Oh, please, I-I can't, oh! Ha, ha!As much as I love watching you rip Jimmy to pieces, I just can't take any more! Seriously, you're so funny!"

Heloise looked up from Jimmy's wounded body and with pointed teeth asked, "What do you mean?"

"Oh, I was just playing with you. I really do want my death machine to be finished. And I want repainted. Make it anything but blue. Or red… Or pink… Or green… Or purple, black, grey, brown (Oh it better not be brown), or yellow (I will not accept that), orange, cream, peach, lilac, rose, or lily (Nothing with a flowery name),not white, not teal, not turquoise, I don't want anything shiny, not gold, or silver, or bronze… Oh, you know what? Just paint it whatever, I'll come back later and tell you if it's wrong."

He paused for another second in thought. "Just don't make it blue."

Heloise mentally slapped herself.

"But first," Lucius finished, "the therapist. I'll be arranging for a cab to come pick you up and take you there at, say… ten o' clock. I expect you to be ready to go when it gets here. Now would be a good time to prepare some questions. Try not to make them too obvious, we don't want him to think we're nosey. You are excused to go home and get ready. Just remember to be back here by ten."

"Yeah, fine, whatever." Heloise said, crossing her arms over her chest. She was about to leave when she heard Lucius speak once more.

"Oh, and Heloise?"

"Yes?"

"I've heard this therapist is very good. Don't let him get into your head."

She scoffed. "Huh, I'd like to see him try."

Lucius smirked. "Just be aware."

"CAN I COME?"

"No."

"Please?"

"Shut up, Two-Shoes."

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To be continued.

YAY! REVIEW!


	2. Chapter 2

Hello again! The second chapter is here! Whoo.

This one's shorter than the last one. I kind of started to fail towards the end and decided to stop it before I hurt myself. :P Next chapter: Lendsville. Don't ask me why I called it that.

Please leave a review! Peer pressure is what always gets me going. :D

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Chapter 2

"It's already 10:15. Where is that cab driver?" Heloise muttered, glancing at a watch she stole. She tucked her hands back up into the sleeves of her dress and rubbed her arms. She had been standing out on the sidewalk in front of the factory for what seemed like ages. The sky was dark, decorated by a few shimmering stars. A lone moon lay in the middle of it all, shining like the soft, pale beauty it was; taunting the little girl.

As silly as she knew it was, Heloise had always hated the moon. It was one of the very few 'good' things about Miseryville, or so that's what she'd always been told. Other monsters would call the moon many disgusting names: bright, glowing, pretty, poetic, gorgeous, beautiful… the list goes on. It made Miseryville nights seem almost peaceful. As far as Heloise was concerned, it was nothing misery-undo-er.

Contrary to the daytime, nights in the town were usually very cool. It was a time most creatures preferred, (although it was rare anyone would go out when the sun was down for fear of the multiple carnivorous horrors that loved to use the city as their hunting grounds). But like most things that made the citizens happy, the breezy air only upset Heloise.

To her, it was freezing. She could stand it for the first few minutes, but after a while of waiting, it was starting to get to her. Even when she had created the Snowburator 901 it hadn't been this cold. Her hands were chapped, her cheeks were rosy, her nose was raw, and she desperately wanted to just go back home and sleep.

Frustrated, the young monster checked the watch again: 10:16. Barely a minute, but felt like an hour. She sighed and slumped down onto the sidewalk. "Typical Lucius, pulling something like this. I never should have gotten here early."

Just as she was finally getting up to leave she heard a strange noise coming from down the street. She got back on to her feet and looked around, but saw nothing.

The noise continued to grow louder.

Heloise snuck over to a small bush at the corner of the building and dove in. Camouflaged by the many leaves and branches, she peered out cautiously down the other side of the road. If something was coming with intentions to attack, she would be ready to jump and disarm it in seconds.

As she looked out from her hiding place she was suddenly blinded by a flash of light. Startled and dizzy, she fell back a little, nearly falling straight out of the bush. Before she had time to regain her balance she felt a strong gust of wind around her; so strong that it tore out every leaf from the bush, leaving her exposed.

Mystified, the girl looked up and tried to face the… Whatever it was, but was instead quickly blinded by another flash of light. She decided that trying to reopen her eyes wasn't a very good idea. Snapping them shut, she began to rely more heavily on her other senses, feeling them enhance more and more with each passing second.

It was just one of the many advantages of being Heloise: when one sense went own, every other capable function began to work to make up for it almost immediately.

She heard what sounded like spinning tires off to her right. The deep growl of an engine followed, and then began to grow. Heloise had already figured out that the "thing" was some sort of car, a big one, and knew that the growing sound of its advance probably wasn't a good thing.

At this point Heloise knew she had to open her eyes. Her senses where being overloaded and although she knew where the automobile was, that was all she knew, and being unknowledgeable wasn't going to help her.

Groaning, she forced her eyes open; her plan to simply stay under the body of the car and away from the tires as it passed. But once again she was blinded and was forced to close her eyes in agony. Daringly, she put out a hand in front of her, hoping to feel the car and tumble under it before it actually hit her.

As the engine's roar continued to grow louder and louder, Heloise prepared herself for the upcoming feat. Then suddenly the sound stopped, leaving only the faint sound of a cricket chirping in the distance to be heard. That, and… Laughing?

Furious, she opened her eyes and screamed. "I WILL NOT BE MADE A FOOL!"The laughers grew hysterical.

"Ehnn?" The little monster squinted through the bright white and waited for her eyes to accommodate. She saw a massive shadow just in front of her, too big to be a car. Confused he looked around, still a little too blind to really see anything.

But she could hear just fine.

"Oh-oh, Heloise! What's the matter? Did you get a-scared?" A deep and familiar voice giggled.

"What?"

Two figures came towards her as her eyes finally adjusted.

"Look at her, Chuck! She's like a baby! Ha, ha, ha! Heloise, I never took you to be a TREE-HUGGER!"

"Chuck? Beezy?"

The pair stood in front of her, grinning idiotically.

"Oh, of course!" She groaned. "It was just you and your stupid bus. Why'd I expect Lucius to send me anything else? Whatever it takes to cause me misery."

It was Chuck's turn to speak. "That's pretty much the idea! Hey, so are you gonna introduce us to your little friend?"

"What?" She looked down and saw that she was hugging what was left of the bush. She realized that she must have grabbed the skinny trunk and wrapped herself around it at some point during the 'attack'.

Disgusted, Heloise leapt off the branch and, shaking away any shame, faced the two. "Lucius sent you guys to take me to…?"

"To Lendsville?" Chuck piped.

"Uh, yeah, to Lendsville." Lendsville? What type of name was that? She realized that she actually knew very little about the town and her 'mission'. It had to be a pretty strange place; the mayor was letting Lucius expand Misery Inc. right into his own property without any dispute. It made her wonder a little more about where she was going…

A thought struck her. "Why did Lucius send me Beezy?"

The teen shrugged. "I dunno. He said something about learning business. I stopped listening after that."

Of course.

Heloise rolled her eyes. "Alright, let's get this over with. I wanna get back to Miseryville as soon as possible; you know I hate physiatrists."

The three boarded the bus and began their journey.

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To be continued.

YAY! REVIEW!


	3. Chapter 3

Well, folks, you did it. You waited all that time, and now another chapter is up. :) Let's throw a super-happy-dance-party to celebrate! Yay!

Poor Heloise is stuck in a bus with Chuck and Beezy, forced to endure however long it takes to get from one town to the other. WILL SHE SURVIVE?

Probably. Because if she dies, I'll have no story.

Please leave a review! Peer pressure is what always gets me going. :D

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Chapter 3

"THE WHEELS ON THE BUS GO ROUND AND ROUND, ROUND AND ROUND, ROUND AND ROUND, THE WHEELS ON THE BUS GO ROUND AND ROUND, ALL THROUGH THE TOWN!"

"Shut up, Chuck!"

Sunlight gleamed through the bus's windows, attacking Heloise. It had been hours since her escorts had picked her up from Miseryville, giving her a heart-attack and blinding her with their bus while doing so. Her eyes still stung and her head throbbed, and the light wasn't helping.

Neither were her companions.

"THE BABY ON THE BUS GOES WHAA-WHAA-WHAA, WHAA-WHAA-WHAA, WHAA-WHAA-WHAA, THE BABY ON THE BUS GOES WHAA-WHAA-WHAA –"

"CHUCK!" Heloise roared, "If you don't shut up right now, I'm going to pop the bus's tires and KILL that baby!"

Chuck gasped in horror. "No! Don't hurt the bus!"

Beezy giggled. "Hey, Chuck! I think I know who the baby on the bus is!"

The heavy teen paused, waiting for someone to say something.

Chuck blinked.

Beezy stared.

Chuck blinked again.

Beezy stared some more.

Heloise sighed. "Finally, some sile–"

"IT'S HELOISE!" Beezy rolled out of his seat, laughing.

The little girl groaned. The entire ride had been like this: Chuck screaming about how much he loves buses, Beezy rolling all over the place, and Heloise telling them both to shut up.

"SHUT UP."

She had hoped to get some sleep on the way to Lendsville, but now she felt like an idiot for ever thinking that she could do so.

"HONK IF YOU LOVE BUSES! HONK, HONK!"

"SHUDDUP, CHUCK!"

Heloise grumbled and looked out the window, hoping for a distraction. It was only a matter of time before she gave into the stupid. They had exited the city a little over half an hour ago. The familiar sights of downtown Miseryville were gone, replaced by flowers, birds, bunny things, and an endless amount of trees. They hadn't even reached their destination yet, and already she didn't like where she was going.

As she continued to gaze out the window in silent disgust, she spotted something that caught her eye. A strange red figure seemed to be dancing around the forest…

Not really. She wasn't nearly stupid enough to believe that the figure was anything but a reflection. Growling, she snapped her head around to see Beezy galloping behind her and making faces like an idiot.

"This is Heloise, this is Heloise, this is Heloise! Ha, ha, ha!"

Heloise crossed her arms, unfazed. It wasn't unusual for Beezy to make fun of her; when he wasn't with Jimmy it seemed to be one of his many favorite pass times. Along with this, he liked to: Sleep, eat, count clouds, eat, sleep, count clouds, sleep, eat, eat _while _he slept, count clouds…

The guy was a loser, and Heloise had found that over the years the things he did seemed to matter less and less to her. Until his taunting got someone else involved, she didn't care.

Chuck giggled. "Yeah, I've gotta agree with you on that one, ex-best friend! Heloise is pretty stupid!" He sighed and rubbed the wheel, "I bet she wishes she was as smart as the bus…"

Heloise's jaw dropped. "I'm… I'm… PRETTY STUPID?" She snapped, face turning red, teeth growing dangerously sharp, and eyes becoming flames.

The other two cringed. Beezy turned to Chuck. "Why did you have to say _that_?" He whimpered.

Chuck shrugged. "Well, this is a pretty smart bus. It won an award and everything!" He held up a certificate from a pants wearing competition made to out to a guy named Larry.

Beezy stared at him.

Chuck groaned, "Alright! I drew this."

They were interrupted by the sound of metal bending. Looking up, they saw Heloise standing on the back of her seat, tearing the roof of the bus apart.

Chuck screamed. Beezy cried. Heloise continued to shriek.

"PRETTY STUPID? PRETTY STUPID?" She could no longer think, and the words quickly consumed her furious mind. In a flash of great strength, Heloise ripped off a hunk of metal and leapt down from her seat. Swinging the sharp weapon around in front of her like a mad man, she began to advance towards the pair.

"PRETTY STUPID, HUH?"

Beezy hid under his seat and continued to sob. "Don't kill us!"

Chuck was now sobbing, too. "Why are you hurting my bus? Why?"

Heloise crackled with insanity. "Because, Chuck, the bus must die…" She made a somewhat curious face as she cocked her head. "…The bus must die, and you must die along with it…"

"No!" Chuck cried, "don't hurt my bus! Hurt…" He hesitated, "…Hurt Beezy!"

"No! Don't hurt me!" Beezy threw his hands up in an effort to protect himself and ran to the back of the bus.

Chuck jumped out of his seat and ran after him. "Get back here, Beezy! You're my scapegoat! My bus-goat!"

"No, you're _my_… Um… You're a… Uh… No, you are!" With that, Beezy charged at the corpse, screaming in determination.

Chuck let out his own battle cry and, lowering his head like a bull, returned Beezy's charge. "FOR THE BUS!"

Their cries were enough of snap Heloise out of her trance. Dropping her weapon, she looked back at the battle that had ensued with slight confusion. "For the bus?" It suddenly dawned her that there was no one driving.

"THE BUS!" The little girl immediately hopped into the driver's seat and took the wheel. Steering the car back onto the road, she noticed that things outside were starting to look a little less cheery and a little more… Stale. She wasn't sure how, but it looked boring.

The grass was still green, but it was unusually level for a forest. The trees were all trimmed, bright, and neat. The birds had disappeared, along with most of the other animals. In fact, other than the grass and the trees, the only wildlife was a large, white dog thing. Not a wolf; they looked too domesticated to be wolves.

Heloise stopped the bus and looked back to the fight. Beezy had pinned Chuck down onto the floor and was screaming 'bus geek' as loud as he could. Chuck had somehow craned his neck around Beezy's arm so that he could bite the young devil's stomach. Heloise shook her head. Those morons.

"Yo! Chuck! When you're done kissing Beezy would you mind telling me where we are?"

Embarrassed, Chuck spat out the hunk of Beezy he was chewing on and looked up. "I only kiss my bus!"

Heloise blinked.

Untangling himself from the arms of his 'lover', Chuck stood up and looked out the window. "I'm not sure what road this is. I was told to just get on Terror Avenue and keep going straight. There's a map on the dashboard."

Heloise turned and grabbed the map. Opening it up, she began to search for Terror Ave. After finding it, she looked up and searched for a sign. She found none.

"Beezy," she said, "get out of the bus and go look for a sign that says where we are."

For a moment the teen looked like he was going to protest, and Heloise snatched up the piece of metal she had dropped and jabbed it in his direction. Beezy shut his mouth and disappeared out the door, grumbling. "I might not come back."

He returned a few minutes later scratching his belly. Heloise opened the doors and let him in. "Well," she asked, "did you find any?"

Beezy yawned. "Any what? I'm hungry."

Heloise slapped her forehead. "Why did even send you out there?" She hopped down from her seat and yanked Beezy down by the throat. "A sign! Did you see one?"

She watched the boy's expression go from pained to thoughtful. His mouth dropped, his nostrils flared, and his eyelids fell halfway shut. Heloise resisted the urge to throw up.

"Durrr…" Beezy droned. Some spittle began to drip from the side of his mouth. Heloise soon realized that despite his eyes being open, he was no longer awake.

The girl immediately slapped him, hard, jarring the devil awake. "OW! What was that for?" He asked, rubbing the side of his jaw.

"A SIGN! DID YOU SEE ONE?"

She watched the boy's expression go from pained to thoughtful.

"_Oh no," _she thought. _"We are NOT doing this again!"_

She slapped him. "OW!"

"DID. YOU. SEE. A. SIGN?" She screamed the words at him carefully, one by one, slapping him between each letter to make sure that he stayed awake.

"OUCH! You're mean!"

"SIGN! SIGN!" Heloise growled, shaking him back and forth.

"Sing? I don't wanna sing."

"SIGN!"

"I told you, I don't wanna!"

Heloise looked like she was going to kill him. "WHERE IS THE SIGN?"

"Alright, geez, calm down! If you want me to sing I'll do it." He cleared his throat. "Misery and grief, pain with no relief…"

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Well that's mean. I was singing for you and everything."

"AUUGGGGHHH!"

Chuck stepped in between the two. "Guys, guys, don't fight. You're sending the bus bad vibes." He turned to Heloise. "I think I know how to solve this."He turned to Beezy. "Beezy? Did you see any signs?"

Beezy smiled. "Why, yes! I did see one a little down the road," he pointed in the direction that the bus had been heading. "It said, 'Welcome to Lendsville'."

Heloise pulled on her hair and screamed. "Why didn't you say so before?"

Beezy frowned at her. "If you wanted to know, you should have asked."

She wanted to die.

Chuck got back into the driver's seat and folded up the map. "I guess we don't need this anymore! Next stop, Lendsville!"

Beezy cheered. "Yay! I did it!"

Chuck grinned. "I know! Let's sing a song to pass the time! THE WHEELS ON THE BUS GO ROUND AND ROUND, ROUND AND ROUND, ROUND AND ROUND…"

Heloise slumped down into her seat and sighed, finally giving into the stupid.

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To be continued.

NOTE: Look, I know I said they'd be going to Lendsville this time, and I'm sorry. This was just the journey. But… They did technically GO to Lendsville, right?

Next chapter. Next chapter they'll be there. I think you'll find this new town to be a very interesting place… sort of. XD

YAY! REVIEW!


	4. Chapter 4

AH-HA! I knew I had a new chapter lurking around in my head somewhere, and I found it!

Heloise, Beezy, Chuck, and the infamous bus have been traveling for a while. WILL THEY EVER REACH THEIR DESTINATION?

Yes. Why? Because they have to. Why? Because I said so. Why? Shut up and stop asking questions.

Please leave a review! If you don't, I'll procrastinate and never write again. Peer pressure is what always gets me going! :D (Or even if you're not my peer, if you yelled at me that'd still be cool.)

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Chapter 4

It had been about six or seven minutes since Beezy had spotted the sign. Heloise had busied herself during this time by reviewing her questions for the therapist in her head, although she was finding this task to be increasingly difficult, as Chuck had still not stopped singing his bus song.

"THE MONKEY ON THE BUS GOES OOH-OOH-AHH, OOH-OOH-AHH, OOH-OOH-AHH! THE MONKEY ON THE BUS GOES OOH-OOH-AHH, ALL THROUGH THE TOWN!"

At this point, even Beezy had grown tired of his song.

"Chuck, be quiet," the teen moaned, "I'm begging you. They don't even have monkeys on buses! There is no monkey bus! Shut up!"

Upon hearing this, the driver suddenly stopped the bus and turned around and looked at his two miserable passengers. He stared at them for a moment without saying anything. After a few seconds of waiting, he finally spoke.

"…THE PIGGIES ON THE BUS GO OINK, OINK –"

"I see the town!" Heloise jumped out of her seat and pointed.

Beezy shrieked with joy. "Really? Oh, sweet, merciful mother of misery! Thank you!"

Before Chuck had time to say anything, the kids were off the bus and running to the city borders as fast as they could.

Then they stopped.

Beezy scratched his head. "What the..?"

A large, blue toll booth stood at the entrance of the city, surrounded by tall chain gates. A tall man stood in the booth, a blank expression on his face. Heloise and Beezy approached him cautiously. Behind them, Chuck got off the bus (patting it goodbye as he did) and ran to catch up with them.

Not noticing the hesitant expression on his companions' faces, Chuck continued to run past them and up to the booth. He waved at the toll taker. "Hello, there! I'm Chuck! Do you like buses?"

"Hello, my name is not there." The curly-haired man looked down at Chuck from his post.

Chuck chuckled nervously at this, suddenly feeling slightly awkward. "Oh. Well, what is your name?"

"Morello."

"Ah!" Chuck smiled. "And how do you feel about buses?"

Morello shifted uncomfortably. "I don't understand."

"Do you like them?"

The man quirked a brow. "Do I… Do I like them? What do you mean? Am I similar to a bus?"

"Huh?" Chuck mirrored Morello's puzzled expression.

Morello smiled simply. "I think you meant to ask, 'am I like a bus'."

"What?"

The man sighed. "You asked, 'do you like them.' You meant to say, 'are you like them'."

Chuck put his hands to his hips. "I didn't mean to say that! I asked you if you like buses!" He was beginning to become annoyed with the man.

Morello shook his head. "No, I am not similar to a bus."

"What are you talking about?" Chuck demanded, losing his patience.

"What are YOU talking about?"

Chuck whipped his head around to the source of the voice, slightly surprised as Beezy and Heloise came up behind him.

"What the… I thought you guys were already here…"

"_I _thought you were going to stop talking about buses already!" Heloise gave him an aggravated look and turned her head to the once again expressionless Morello. "And who are you supposed to be?"

"Myself, Morello. Who else would I be?"

Heloise stared at the man uncomfortably. "Uh… Yeah." She looked the toll booth up and down, and then glanced at the chain gate, noting the small town behind it. "What's all this?"

Morello blinked and paused, staring at her. "Well, this is a toll booth," he said, quickly gesturing around himself. "That is the town," he pointed behind himself. "That is the gate," he leaned over the counter and pointed at the barbed wire.

Heloise scoffed. "Yeah, thanks for that. I mean, why do you have it? We don't have anything like this in-"

"Oh no, Miss, you are mistaken," Morello interrupted, "I do not own this booth, the city, or the gate." He smiled.

Heloise shuddered a little. There was something about his smile that seemed kid of... Empty. She sighed. "So, do you work this thing?"

Morello sucked in his lips and hesitated for a moment. "…I am the toll booth operator, yes. I work this thing."

Heloise studied the man with interest. He was like no monster she had ever seen before. Very tall, very pale, black eyes, curly black hair mopped atop his head… One might have mistaken him for a vampire, or a human at the very least, if it wasn't for one other key characteristic.

His head was shaped like a lemon.

Heloise continued to stare at the man. It wasn't a very big deal, his head being lemon-shaped, nor was it a very an unusual quality. It was just weird because, when thrown together with everything else, she didn't know what species he was. Probably a mutt of some sort. She shrugged the thought off, thinking that it wasn't really important enough to ask.

"So, what's the price?" She asked.

"For a bus and three passengers? One adult and two minors?" He pulled out a little book and flipped through it. "… 25 for the bus… 10 for the adult… and 15 for each minor." He looked up. "That brings your total to $80 dollars.

"What? That's only 65! Do ya think I don't know how to count? And why are minors more than adults?" Heloise growled.

Morello didn't seem to notice the little girl's glare. "The lives of minors are more valuable. City officials don't want to be forced to face any problems that might arise if you were to become damaged while within city borders, especially if you are getting in here without parental consent. The extra five dollars are placed to serve as an inconvenience towards minors with the possibility that they might see it as a reason not to come in."

Heloise continued to growl. "Only five dollars? That's lame! And what about the extra 15 that you randomly decided to throw in?"

Morello shook his head. "No, there is a reason behind it. Tax."

Beezy snorted. "Man, you guys are a bunch of rip-offs."

"Those are simply the rules and regulations."

"Whatever." Beezy pulled out a small wallet and retrieved a few dollars. He placed the money on the counter. "Will this do?"

Morello looked at the money closely. After a few moments he looked up at Beezy and shook his head. "I am not familiar with this currency."

Beezy scowled. "What? You mean to tell me that you don't know about the infamous 'Beezy Bucks'?"

"What?" Heloise blinked and took a dollar off the counter. She blinked again. "This is just a piece of paper with a picture of you scribbled on it. There isn't even any indication of how much it's worth!"

Beezy stuck up his nose proudly. "Beezy Bucks have no definite value! Beezy Bucks are worthless! You can use just one Beezy Buck for just about anything. Why? Because Beezy is awesome!"

Heloise was about to start arguing, but stopped when she saw Morello's confused look.

"B-… Buh, uh, yeah!" She nodded, grinning. "Erm, Beezy Bucks are the most expensive form of money in the world! I'm sure just ONE would be enough to get all of us in!"

Morello scratched his head. "I don't know about this… I think I'm going to get my boss…"

Before any of the three could protest, Morello reached under the counter and pressed the button under the counter. A small, cream colored speaker popped out of the wooden roof of the booth.

"How may I be of assistance to you, operator?"

Morello stared at the waiting 'customers' as if they had been the ones speaking. "I have three passengers here who claim to have a form of currency that is…" He eyed Beezy, "… Priceless. They call it Beezy Bucks."

"I am not familiar with such a currency."

"Neither am I. That is why I called you," Morello explained, still staring at them.

The voice on the other side sighed wearily. "Do you have these passengers' names?"

Morello nodded at them. "Names? Speak loudly enough so that my manager can hear you."

Heloise cleared her throat, "Heloise, Chuck, and Beezy."

Morello nodded and looked to the speaker. "Would you like a description of the money?"

There was a long pause, followed by the sound of flipping paper. Finally the manager spoke. "There will be no need. I have two of those names on the immediate passage list. Does the 'Beezy' traveling with them have a last name?"

"Uh, yeah," Beezy spoke, "its Heinous."

The voice grunted. "Yes, yes, that is the name. Let Mr. Beezy J. Heinous and Miss Heloise pass."

Once again, Morello reached under the counter and pressed a button. At that moment a part of the gate started to open, revealing a small road leading deep into the city.

Morello waved Beezy and Heloise through, and the two ran quickly into the city before Chuck could do a thing about it. As soon as they had gone, the gate slammed back shut, leaving poor Chuck alone, hugging his bus in sadness.

"I can't believe the just left me here!"

Morello looked down at him. "There is nothing left for you here. Unless you have money, you may leave now."

Chuck whimpered.

_Meanwhile,_

_Behind city walls…_

Heloise and Beezy looked around at their new surroundings. The town was surprisingly… simple. Nothing too bad, it's just that after seeing a chain gate around the city, they had expected to see a little more. Miseryville didn't even have anything like that protecting it.

There were many houses lined up on either side of the streets, all of them looking almost exactly the same. Every single one followed the same scheme: A small white building with two round windows and a little baby blue door in the front all topped off with a blue roof. But that was it. No fence, no yard, no trees or grass, nothing. Everything around them was so strange and concrete.

There were a few people walking around, some similar to the monsters one would find in Miseryville, but most were like the man from the gate. Pale, black eyes, curly raven hair, and lemon shaped heads. Their heights varied, with some being as tall as Morello, others being as short as Heloise, and sometimes even smaller. All shared the same ambiguous expression.

Beezy shivered. "Dude, where are we?"

Heloise smiled slyly. "Not in Kansas anymore." She muffled her giggle.

The red devil looked down at her in confusion. "What? Kansas? Where's that?"

Heloise sighed. "Never mind, it was a joke. Just… Never mind. We're in Lendsville. Where else would we be?"

Beezy shrugged. "I just thought-"

"Guess what, Beezy?"

"What?"

"No one cares about what you think."

Beezy frowned. "No, you are!"

Heloise ignored his overly-used comeback and took another look around. "Okay," she turned to the teen, "do you have any idea where to go?"

He shrugged. "We could go over there." He pointed at a lamp post.

"Why would we go over there?"

Another shrug. "You asked where we should go. If you want, we can go over there. Or we could stay here. Wherever. I don't know why you're asking _me_ anyway."

"I thought your dad might have told you."

Beezy sighed and scratched his stomach. "He might have said something, I dunno."

Heloise bared her teeth. "Don't tell me that you weren't listening…"

"Did you really expect me to?" He sat down.

Heloise smacked her head and growled. "You… Weren't… Listening? BEEZY!"

Beezy looked back at her in fear. "Well, he's boring, and he woke me up in the middle of lunch!"

She stared at him. "In the middle of lunch?"

"I pride myself with sleep eating."

The little girl groaned. "Well, I hope you're proud now, because we're lost."

"I am."

Grumbling, Heloise walked away from the now curled up and sleeping Beezy. She scanned the neighborhood in search of someone to talk to. She didn't feel like getting into another conversation with one of the lemon head things, and instead sought out a different species.

She spotted a small, fuzzy, purple blob thing looking at them. She stared back, hoping that it would eventually get scared and run away. She waited for about five minutes before cracking.

"WHAT? WHO ARE YOU? WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

The creature jumped back a little. "What? I was just wondering why you were looking at me."

Heloise sighed and turned away. Sitting down next to Beezy she decided that there was no one here she wanted to talk to. Everyone around her was weird.

At that point, she concluded that at a time like this the best thing for her to do would be to stay where she was. After all, that's what the older monsters would always tell younger monsters to do if they ever got lost.

She looked up at the sky and saw that the rays of the two suns were already beginning to reach down and grab at the horizon, ducking down out of sight to make room for the glorious moon.

(Note: Yes, I only put in two suns, not three. Lucius had the other one blown up, remember?)

Nighttime was approaching, and knowing how impatient Lucius could be, Heloise was sure that the tyrant would eventually send someone out to look for them. As for nocturnal midnight creepers, Heloise wasn't worried. She was able to beat off the ones in Miseryville easily enough, and as far as threats go, Lendsville didn't seem to have any. If there was anyone waiting for the cover of night to strike, there was a fair chance that they wouldn't be much to get all worked up about.

Heloise curled up next to Beezy and closed her eyes. At the expense of looking like an even bigger freak than the citizens themselves, she chose to sleep there for the night. She had nothing better to do; walking around would only get them even more mixed up and would lessen the chances of their being found. This would have to do.

For now.

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To be continued.

NOTE: I haven't really read through this yet (When it comes to my own stories, I rarely ever do) so just tell me if anything is seriously wrong here…

... Also, I've been thinking about adding titles to my chapters from now on. But I'm lazy. So, I wanna know if 'yall think I should. If so, what should I call them? OH YEAH! LET THE READERS DECIDE!

YAY! REVIEW!


	5. Chapter 5

Here you go, another friggin' chapter! Enjoy it, hate it, smack it, eat it, I don't care. Just read it.

We last left our… Umm… Heroes, lost and asleep in the middle of the road! Oh, but what's this? Night is coming! Will they be able to fend off the creatures that crawl in this town's dark, if there are any creatures at all?

I can't tell you. That would be cheating.

Please leave a review! If you don't, I'll procrastinate and never write again. Peer pressure is what always gets me going! :D (Or even if you're not my peer, if you still yelled at me that'd be cool.)

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Heloise awoke to the sound of screams.

"AUUGGGGGHHH!"

Confused, she opened her big eyes and squinted towards the sound. Beezy had fallen back away from her, and was now leaning back against the curb, a look of pure terror slapped across his face. Upon seeing this, Heloise smiled and stretched coyly. "What is it?"

Beezy pointed a trembling finger at the girl. "Y-you were… We were… I was…"

"You were what?"

"Not me! You! You were…. _Laying next to me!_"

Heloise smothered a shiver. She hadn't thought about it very much before, but choosing to lie next to Beezy was kind of creepy, and she could no longer remember why she had chosen to do so in the first place. But that didn't matter too much. Beezy was disgusted and vulnerable, and after the bus ride she just had she figured that she deserved to make him suffer.

"Oh, but Beezy, I had to!" She made a sweet face at him. "It was starting to get dark, and the nights are always _so_ cold." Her expression became serious. "Besides, I don't know anyone else here. And you looked so big, and warm, and _cute_…" She began to slowly inch closer to him. "I needed someone to _cuddle_ _with_." She purred.

Beezy shrieked in horror. "NO! Heloise, don't do this! Snap out of it! Get a hold of yourself! Don't be drawn in by my rugged good looks! Please!" He jumped to his feet and ran off, sobbing in fear, only to smack into a light pole shortly after. Giggling deviously, Heloise turned away from the teen and looked around her new, dim surroundings.

Night had crept over Lendsville, with it bringing a dark blanket of sky with which to cover the town up and tuck the citizens into sleep. Heloise couldn't help but notice that the ever present moon and stars that usually resided high in the sky above Miseryville were absent here, replaced by a few large, heavy clouds so big they practically ate the sky up. In fact, there was hardly anything to be seen past them at all. It was gloomy. She liked it.

A faint rustling came from behind one of the street lights, a sound almost like crinkling paper… Or a candy bar. Heloise turned back to where Beezy was, thinking that he had pulled out a treat and moved when she wasn't looking, and instead saw him doubled over on the sidewalk, nursing an injured nose. She sighed and returned her attention to the pole. "I had hoped that I wouldn't have to deal with this. I'm not in the mood…"

Something small and green flickered out from behind the lamp post for a second, returning as soon as it had appeared. Heloise blinked and bared her teeth. _"Okay, I'm just going to nip this in the bud._ _It's time to make my mark on this town; I am not going to be messed with just because I'm new."_

She jumped up to her feet and charged at the concealed creature. Before the night crawler had any time to react, Heloise was on him and screaming with insane fury. The predator shrieked and squirmed beneath her, desperate for escape, but Heloise would have none of it. She quickly flipped the monster onto his belly, positioned one knee on his spine and one foot on the ground, grabbed his arms and yanked them across the sidewalk above his head and pinned them to the ground with one hand, then slid her arm underneath his head and wrapped it around his neck, effectively restraining and choking him.

Heloise giggled horridly at the small, green creature. He could only sputter in reply. Heloise's dreadful grin widened. "What's the matter? Aren't you going to say hello?" She craned her neck so that she could look him in the face. "Hello."

"H-hel-llo." He stuttered.

Heloise frowned. "Sammy? What are you doing here?"

"Le-t-t my wh-windp-pipe go, a-and I'll t-tell y-you. I-I-I c-can't b-breathe."

Heloise released his throat and climbed off him. "Okay you big baby, you can breathe now. Why are you here? I thought you were supposed to keep an eye on things at Misery Inc…"

Sammy stood and brushed himself off. "No, Horian is doing that," He rubbed his neck. "After what happened the last time I was in charge," he cringed, "Lucius and I decided that maybe I'm not ready to be watching the factory yet."

"I was the one in charge!" Heloise put her hands to her hips.

Sammy grunted, "Never mind, it doesn't matter. I was sent to come get you…" He looked at Beezy, who had found some gum stuck to the side of the lamp post and was busy chewing it off, "… two." He sighed.

"We didn't know where to go," the little girl chuckled sheepishly.

"Chuck was supposed to guide you. Where is he?"

"The toll booth operator wouldn't let him through."

"And he didn't give you any directions?"

"No."

Sammy sighed darkly. "Chuck…"

Heloise turned to Beezy. "Hey, lard-for-brains, let's go!"

"Coming!" Beezy started to run to them, tripping on a small rock and dropping his gum on the way. He stared at it for a minute then shrugged, dusted it off, and threw it back in his mouth. Heloise shuttered.

"Let's just go."

_Welcome to 'Factory B'!_

"Welcome to 'Factory B'!"

Sammy gestured around grandly. They were standing in what was going to be the main floor where all of the assembling would be done. Heloise nodded and smiled. "Things are looking good. We should be able to start moving the conveyer belts in soon."

Beezy yawned and scratched his stomach dully. "This is lame. Look it, that wall isn't even finished."

Sammy scowled at him. "It's still under construction, Beezy. And, Heloise, as I'm sure you probably already know, you won't be working on any of this. Your obligation isn't with the factory. You ha-"

"-I know, I know, I have to speak with the mayor's therapist." Heloise sighed. "Why do _I _have to talk to him, anyway? I'd do better working on construction, or finishing my stupid machine. I can't talk to physiatrists, they drive me crazy! It's like they think they know everything!"

Beezy laughed, "Yeah, I bet ten Beezy Bucks that you won't last one second with him!"

"I will too!"

Sammy shook his head. "No you won't. He's gonna say one thing and you'll punch him in the face."

"I will not!"

"It'll be, 'hello, my name is," and then **K**_**A**_p_O_**w**!" Sammy chuckled.

"No, it won't!"

"You won't be able to ask one question!"

"I WILL!"

"Not one question."

"Yes, I _will_! And I'll prove it to you! I'll ask him every question, get everything I need to know, and I'll do it all without freaking out and hurting him. I guarantee it! In fact, I think pizza face over there had the right idea. Let's make this a bet."

"Okay," Sammy agreed. "I bet… Um…" He searched through his pockets, coming up empty-handed. "Uh, it seems that Mr. Heinous forgot to pay me this year."

Heloise grinned. "Poor Sammy. That's okay, you can bet something else, like, oh, I dunno, your loyal servitude for the next three years?"

"No, not three years! It's my bet! I'll do uh, one month." He turned to Beezy. "What will you bet, pizza face?"

Beezy pulled off the pizza box he randomly had on his face. "Can I bet Beezy Bucks?"

"What? No!"

"Fine, then I bet, uh, ten pepperonis!" He declared proudly.

Heloise sighed. "Well that's no fun. You guys are cheap. Alright, Sammy pools his slavery to me for three years, and Beezy pools a few pieces of fake pig meat. Wonderful."

"I didn't say three years, I said a month!"

"Whatever. I guess I bet the same as both of you."

It was Sammy's turn to grin. "Really? My, you sound confident."

"I have more self-control than most people would like to think. This will be a piece of cake."

Sammy thought for a moment, and then smirked deviously. "You don't mind if I change my bet, do you? I'd like to go to one full year. I know you're going to fail, and it'll be fun to force you to do whatever I want."

The little girl shrugged. "Yeah, okay. It'll be fun to watch you lose."

He quirked a brow. "We'll see."

His ears perked up suddenly, and he pushed Heloise aside to see something behind her. Ignoring the fact that Sammy had just shoved her, Heloise turned to look, too.

She blinked. "Who's that?"

For a moment, Heloise thought that it was Morello. Tall, curly black hair, pale skin, and a lemon head, he looked almost exactly like him. The only contrast he had from the toll taker was a slightly longer nose, a black pinstripe suit, shorter hair, and a pair of stunning bright green eyes.

Sammy smiled at him. "Hello, Dr. Stokes." He gestured to Heloise, "This is Heloise. She's going to be asking you a few questions to ask you. Heloise, this is Dr. Grehiel Stokes, the mayor's therapist."

"Wonderful."

Dr. Stokes studied Heloise with little interest. "I will meet you here in half an hour to take you to my private office so that you may conduct the interview."

"Magical."

"Until then, Lucius has requested for the three of you to meet him in his new office. Mr. Garvin, I trust you already know where that is?"

"Second floor, first hall, at the very end. I've got it."

Dr. Stokes nodded. "Young Heloise, I will be seeing you later on."

"Lovely."

The lemon head nodded once more and then walked away. Sammy turned to the kids. "This way – BEEZY! STOP EATING THE TOOLS!"

_Up to the second floor, down the first hall, and all the way to the end._

_In other words, Lucius' office._

Lucius sat at his desk, fiddling with a pen. Bored of waiting for Beezy and Heloise, he had been busying himself by trying to stand the pen straight up. After a few failed attempts, he finally got it to stand on its own. He was congratulating himself when suddenly the door slammed open. In entered Sammy, Heloise, and his son.

Sammy stuck up his nose proudly at his boss. "I have found Beezy and Heloise, just like you asked, sir!"

Sammy closed his eyes and held his hands out towards the children, waiting for a sign of approval. Nothing happened. Confused, Sammy opened his eyes and looked at his boss. Lucius was staring at the pen on his desk, looking very disappointed. It took the tyrant a moment to find his words.

"You made it fall over."

Sammy blinked. "What?"

Lucius bared his teeth at the goblin menacingly. "You. Knocked. My pen. OVER!" In a fit of rage, the devil snatched up the pen, snapped it in half, and threw the pieces at Sammy. "HOW DARE YOU?"

"Um, yeah," Heloise interrupted, "so Lucius, what do you want?"

Lucius sat up in his chair and grinned. "How do you like my new office? Notice anything different from my old one?"

"Yeah. This one's covered in ink." Heloise smirked.

"Not that."

She thought. "Umm… No? This one's exactly the same."

Lucius laughed. "HA! Wrong! There is a key difference here: my computer is slightly bigger." He pressed a button underneath the desk and a white computer popped out.

"How was I supposed to know _that_ if I couldn't even _see_ it?"

Lucius waved a hand impatiently at her. "Shut up, I'm trying to hear this!" He leaned in to the computer in interest. Heloise came around to the side of the desk that Lucius was on and looked over his shoulder.

A live-video from a security camera in his office in Misery Inc. played on-screen.

"I want a status update!"

Horian was sitting at Lucius' desk, looking extremely ticked off. On the other side of the desk stood a nervous Dr. Scientist.

"Status update?"

"That's what I said," Horian growled. "Let's hear it."

The doctor chuckled slightly and looked down at the clipboard he was holding. "Um, it would appear that my plan has… Eh…"

"Don't tell me that it's failed." A threat.

"No! No, it has not failed! It is just experiencing a few… Minor setbacks."

"Like what?"

"It would seem that someone has been befriending some of the -"

"Is it Two-Shoes?"

The doctor didn't even need to reply.

Horian dug his claws into Lucius' chair angrily. "I don't believe this… You let a fourteen-year-old _human _boy stop a -"

"No, no, H-Horian. I didn't let him! He just ran out into the street and started giving them high-fives!"

The serpent glared death at him. "Never interrupt me again…"

Dr. Scientist gulped.

In a flash Horian's tail flew out, wrapped itself around the scientist, and threw him into the air. The basilisk leapt across the desk and stood under where Dr. Scientist would fall and began to open his mouth as wide as he could. Before the scientist even came close to landing, Horian flicked out his long tongue, caught the man in mid air, yanked him down, and ate him. "And that's _sir_, to you."

Horian cleared his throat and walked calmly over to the large windows looking out over the production floor. Then, coughing a bit, he spat Dr. Scientist out. Dizzy and confused, the scientist stumbled backward trying to regain balance, only to end up tripping over his own feet and crash straight out the window, falling to his, and a few unlucky monsters beneath him, doom.

Horian shook his head and sighed. "Damn cone headed idiot. If you're going to unleash an army of savage bloodthirsty monsters all over the city you have to do it yourself." He walked over to the door, then stopped midway and grunted. "'Mass of unstoppable killing power' my ass. They couldn't even stop a simple child. Time to try something new…"

Back at factory B, Lucius was cracking up. "Oh, I love Horian!"

He looked at Heloise, who stared back in confusion. "When Sammy said that you had left Horian in charge, I didn't think that he was being serious. You always bring him with you!"

Lucius shrugged. "I wanted to try something new. Horian is more than qualified to keep an eye on things, and he was practically begging me to let him. It was pathetic, I couldn't stand to watch."

"Horian was begging?"

The dictator thought for a moment, then shrugged again. "In his own way. Besides, I couldn't leave Sammy in charge. I have something different planned for him."

Sammy smiled naively. "What is it?"

Lucius grinned dreadfully. "Oh, it's nothing really. We just have some new products that we need you to try out."

"W-what?"

"I would have someone else do it, you know, get an assembly of product testers like we usually do, but they're all too busy working on the factory. I've made a list of the products here." He pulled out a notepad from one of his drawers and held it out it Sammy. The goblin reached for the list, but at the last moment Lucius, snickering, changed directions and handed it to Heloise.

The girl looked the list over eagerly. "'The amazing collapsible furniture'? 'The fantastic home-made panjandrum'? 'Water Torture For Dummies?' 'Baby's first Guillotine'? Electrical pizza'? I remember inventing this stuff! I wondered what you did with them."

Sammy snatched the notepad away from her and read it anxiously. He flipped to the next page. Then to the next. Then to the next. Then to the next. He looked up at his boss franticly. "But, but sir! There are so many!"

Lucius nodded. "Yes, I know. It'll give us a head start on production here, and I want to get the testing for this done as quickly as possible, which means no breaks for you, Sammy."

Sammy read a page over again. "But sir, some of this stuff has already been tested and sold in Miseryville! I remember, I was there!"

The tiny tyrant smirked evilly down at him. "I know."

Heloise giggled, and Sammy shot her a scowl. "I don't know what you're so smug about. You think that as soon as you finish talking Grehiel you're all done here, and you can just go home and be all hunky dory? Huh? Well, guess what? You don't!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Aww, Sammy! I wanted to tell her! Just for that, I'm making you test each product twice!"

"What's going on?"

Lucius cleared his throat. "Well, as you already know, you are one of the most intelligent people in Miseryville. Not many people can think the way you can or do the things you are able to do. But don't take that as a compliment. You're a nerd."

Heloise scoffed.

"Now," Lucius continued, "if for some reason I found myself in a position where I would have to find a replacement for you, well, things would probably go as well as last time. I'd get nowhere. The same goes for finding someone to… I suppose I'm over-explaining things. What I'm trying to say is that if we're opening up another factory here in Lendsville, we are going to need another inventor. Unfortunately, it's going to be a while before I can find someone worthy enough to work here. Until then, you're going to be inventing for both factories and will be creating different products for each town."

"What?"

"For the same pay."

"WHAT?"

"Okay, half your pay check. I need to use the extra money to continue with the construction."

"Lucius… I might kill you…"

"Oh, don't be so testy." He chuckled. "Ha, ha, get it? Testy? 'Cause you're in charge of testing? Oh, I crack myself up."

Heloise was struggling to contain her agitation, but her anger was starting to mess up her thinking, making it slightly difficult to do. "Okay, now I'm trying to understand what's going on here. Why do you need different products for each town? Why can't we just produce the same stuff in each factory?"

"Well that wouldn't be very creative, would it? Besides, I want to create a delivery system between the towns that I wasn't able to create before. You see, people don't want to buy stuff from where they live, they want to by stuff from faraway places! They like it because it feels exciting, exotic, and new! Plus, they'll pay more! I'm also not sure that the products that work well with Miseryville's citizens are going to work well with… These people. I also just like messing with you."

"Wait, what did you say?"

"That I like to mess with your mind?"

"No, not that. It sounded like you just said that my products won't work here."

"Oh, that. Yes, yes I did."

"You're mistaken." Heloise crossed her arms and glared at Lucius defiantly. "My inventions always work, all the time, on everybody."

The tyrant just frowned. "Not on these people they won't. You may have noticed that these citizens aren't all there…"

"Yeah, I did notice! They're weirdoes!"

Everyone turned their attention to Beezy. Sammy raised an eyebrow. "Yes, they are strange."

"What's wrong with them?" Heloise asked.

Lucius rubbed the back of his neck. "They are, um… What's the word? Oh I've got it! They have no emotion."

"That's not one word," Beezy pointed out.

"Shut up Beezy, I'm not talking to you."

"That's crazy!" Heloise shook her head. "How can they have no emotion? Even I can feel!"

Sammy's hands went to his heart. "Really, Heloise? That's so sweet! I didn't know you were capable of love!"

"Shut up Sammy, I'm not talking to you. Lucius, that is ridiculous. Everyone has emotion, and even if they somehow don't my inventions can bring them out. They'll be pissing their pants by the time I'm done with them."

"That's what we hope…"

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing, never mind." He waved his hands around in front of him, as if washing away the topic. "It has to do with this whole crazy thing, just forget about it."

"But Lucius –"

"Dear misery!" Sammy jumped suddenly and checked his watch. "Did Grehiel say half an hour? You're going to be late!"

"But I –"

"You can talk to Lucius about this later, but right now you have to go, go, go!"

"Alright, but this isn't over…"

"GO!"

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To be continued.

NOTE: Sorry for not updating in a while. My procrastination problems were getting the best of me… This chapter's much longer than my other ones, so I hope it makes up for that.

YAY! REVIEW!


	6. Chapter 6

New chapter… New chapter… New chapter… New chapter… New chapter… New chapter…

Last time on JUST A LITTLE FURTHER (or "JALF", as I sometimes call it):

Heloise is going to Dr. Grehiel Stokes's office.

Please leave a review! If you don't, I'll procrastinate and never write again. Peer pressure is what always gets me going! :D (Or even if you're not my peer, if you still yelled at me that'd be cool.)

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Chapter 6

"Please, have a seat." Dr. Stokes gestured Heloise towards a red loveseat situated in the center of the room and then sat in the office chair beside it.

Heloise hesitated and eyed the doctor suspiciously. "You're not going to…"

Dr. Stokes shook his head. "You are the one who will be asking the questions, of course."

The girl continued to stare at him for a few moments before finally sitting down.

"Alright Heloise, the first thing I would like to know would be if you have a last name. And if so, may I know what it is?" The psychiatrist smiled blankly at her.

"I thought I was supposed to be asking the questions?"

"Oh, yes, of course. I apologize for being rude; I just like to keep professional business professional."

More smiling.

Heloise shifted uncomfortably in her seat, not liking the way he was staring at her. "Well, that doesn't make any sense."

"What doesn't make sense?"

"Lucius told me that people here can't feel. How can you like anything if you have no emotion?"

Dr. Stokes stared at her.

Heloise blinked. "Hello?"

"Hello. I think Lucius may have misinformed you. Not everyone here is like that. The mayor, in fact, is full of emotion, and I too experience some 'feelings', as you called them, although my range of emotion is not as explosive as the mayor's. I do have the capacity to prefer one thing over another, as do a few other citizens."

"Oh, like Morello?"

Dr. Stokes frowned at the girl. "The toll booth operator? No, I don't believe he experiences any emotion at all. Why do you ask?"

"He kept smiling at Beezy and me when we were at the gate."

"Oh. Some citizens, such as Mr. Morello, do express emotion even when they don't have it. It could be something they have learned from other citizens, or it could simply be from old habit. But most don't express anything at all. Now, shall we begin?"

Heloise quirked a brow at the lemon head. "What do you mean, 'habit'?"

"Do you want the definition?" He pulled out a large dictionary. "'Habit. Noun. A regularly repeated behavior pattern.'"

"Where did you get that from?"

"My bookshelf."

He pointed to a small hutch by the door. Heloise looked from him to the hutch several times, puzzled. "Did you pick that up before we sat down…?"

"No. Let's begin."

_Later (yay)…_

Sighing, Heloise exited Dr. Stokes office, ignoring the polite 'have a nice day' following after her.

"Well, that's about three hours of my life down the drain," she muttered, closing the door.

"HI!"

Heloise jumped and spun around; coming face to face with one of the most hideous beings she had ever seen in her life.

She rolled her eyes. "What do you want, Beezy? I'm busy."

Beezy crossed his arms and huffed angrily. "I wanted to see if this town had any good fast food places, but Jimmy said I had to hang out with you."

Heloise gasped and a wide smile spread over her face. "Jimmy's here? Where?"

Beezy reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his many cell phones. "At home. He called me a few minutes ago wondering where I was. I guess I should've told him I left…"

Heloise snorted. "It would have been a good idea."

The two stood next to each other for a few awkward moments not saying anything.

Heloise toyed with a crease in her dress, hating the silence. "So…"

Beezy looked off, uninterested. "So."

"So... Umm… What's new?"

A strange and slightly girly expression came onto the teen's face.

"_WELL, _Jimmy wants me to go hang out with this girl, Heloise, who is _totally lame_, but I was thinking about ditching her and getting my dad's chauffeur to drive me around town to look for a place to eat, like a pizza parlor or something, until Jimmy get here, but I'm worried 'cause Heloise is really creepy and might find out where I am and like, stalk me or something, and I might not find one because I don't think mimes eat pizza. Do ya wanna come?"

Heloise face palmed. "Seriously, Beezy? Seriously? I'M RIGHT HERE! And the people here aren't mi- Wait, did you say Jimmy's coming?"

"Yeah." Beezy stared at her dumbly.

Heloise shrieked in delight. "Oh, Jimmy! Why didn't you tell me he was coming here? When?"

"I don't know. He called me a few minutes ago saying that he was on his bike and coming over." He jumped suddenly and threw his claws to his face in horror. "Oh no! I wasn't supposed to tell you that! Now you're gonna wanna hang out with us… Heloise?" The teen looked around, dumfounded.

She was gone.

_Outside 'Factory B'…_

Heloise sat on the steps of the still-forming factory, daydreaming. She had already decided that Jimmy was coming to see her, and not Beezy. They would spend the whole day together exploring the town, making picnics, watching movies, 'appreciating' nature (as Jimmy had so adorably dubbed it), and torturing citizens, all without that smelly lump of a Heinous. If she had her way, the boys wouldn't even have time to talk to each other.

She was busy fantasizing about her Jimmy, when a shadow came over her.

"You look like you could use some company… Or so it would seem."

Startled, the little girl looked up. "No, I'm fine."

The woman standing above her wasn't a lemon head; she looked like a giant frog wearing a dress made from cheap flowery curtains and a wasp's nest on her head. But it wasn't her bumpy green skin or yellow beady eyes that caught Heloise's attention. It was the strange feeling the girl got looking at this woman, thing. It was an almost familiar feeling, like she had met this creature somewhere before, and it disturbed her.

The frog lady tilted her head and smiled pityingly at her. "Are you sure? You seem to be rather lonely. Or are you waiting for someone?" She flicked her long, red tongue out for a split second, causing Heloise to begin to lean back a little.

"Um, I fine. I'm just… None of your business. Go away now."

The toad shrugged. "Alright, if you really want me to leave," she began to turn away, then paused. "But, I really don't want to go without properly introducing myself, lest we should run into each other again." She held a flipper out to the young monster and grinned, revealing a thin row of very short, very sharp teeth running along the top of her mouth. "I'm Mermitrude. And you are?"

Heloise eyed Mermitrude's webbed hand and shivered. There was something seriously wrong with this lady, although she couldn't quite put her finger on what it could be.

She was on the verge of deciding to ignore Mermitrude's request when she realized that there could be some benefits to her friendship. After her interview with Dr. Stokes she had discovered that having emotionless physiatrists wasn't the best idea, even if they were only semi-emotionless. During the entire meeting, other than learning the mayor's name, she had gotten almost nothing else. Clearly, the doctor didn't understand emotion well enough to explain any of it to her. She figured that maybe if she could get more familiar with the locals she could get more information on 'Mayor Robert Hegway'.

The child monster smiled sweetly at Mermitrude. "Hello, I'm Heloise." she said kindly, taking the frog's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Mermitrude gasped, bringing a flipper up to her face to hide her blush. "My, such manners! Most people in town ignore me, but you are so polite!"

Heloise giggled and nodded, resisting the urge to smack the astonished look off the woman's face. "Yeah. Uh, say, would you mind showing me around a little? I'm new, and I-"

"-Of course I will show you around! I know all about this town. Trust me, you won't find a better guide anywhere."

Heloise sat patiently staring at the frog creature as she looked around anxiously. Mermitrude glance behind herself and then motioned for Heloise to follow her. "Come, girl. I think the first place I will show you is Spokeslee Bridge. Come, now, hurry before someone tells you to do otherwise."

Now Heloise looked at her with some worry. _Before someone tells me to do otherwise? Maybe this isn't a very good idea after all..._

But before Heloise had time to protest, Mermitrude had already grabbed the little girl's arm and was dragging her away from the building and down the street at a frighteningly fast pace.

"It's this way, Heloise. I trust that what you will see there you'll find to be very interesting."

Heloise tugged back on her arm, desperately trying to get loose. "Jeeze, you're strong! Let me go, NOW!"

Mermitrude looked back at her, eyes full of concern. "No, child, this is important. I must get you to that bridge. He commands it so."

Heloise groaned. _Not another one of these religious whack jobs. _Heloise had been kidnapped by people like this before, monsters who had been tricked into thinking that some Earth-bound god wanted them to help open a portal to other divinities or something, and that the only way to do so was to sacrifice her body to them on a bloody alter. She had escaped always escaped before, if only just barely, but she wasn't in the mood to go through this again.

Mermitrude suddenly came to a stop in the middle of the road and, with one hand still wrapped around Heloise's arm, began to lift up a pothole in the ground. Heloise fought back wildly, but to no avail. This woman was REALLY strong.

The girl began hitting, kicking, and biting at the woman, amazed that no one was around to see any of this. She sighed, feeling stupid and weak next to Mermitrude, who was still trying to get the pothole open. Heloise, seeing her struggle, slammed her foot onto the lid, crushing Mermitrude's fingers and reclosing the pothole.

Mermitrude sighed and turned back to Heloise. "You really don't remember me, do you?"

Heloise took a step back in shock. Mermitrude flicked her crushed fingers, popping the lid off the pothole with ease. She grabbed Heloise by the waist and held her over the entrance of the hole. "We're going down this way. I know a shortcut."

_More Later_

"Hey, Jimbo!" Beezy skipped down the steps of the factory happily, arms spread out to his friend and ready for a hug.

Jimmy smiled and set his bike down. "Hey Beezy! Sorry I took so long, but it was kinda hard getting in- GACK!"

Beezy ran straight into the blond and grabbed him around the neck lovingly. "Oh, Jimmy, I missed you so much! You have no idea how horrible it is to hang out with Heloise! She's so annoying!" The teen began to cry into Jimmy's shirt.

Jimmy chuckled and forced Beezy to let go of his throat. "I'm sure it wasn't that bad. Where is Heloise?"

"She was just with me a few minutes ago…"

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To be continued.

YAY! REVIEW! :D

NOTE (From on the road!): Right now I'm on vacation and I have just found a computer with internet connection. I don't have much time to check for reviews or messages, but I thought that I might as well alert everyone that if they are exptecting a reply on anythig, they won't get one. I'm not sure how much longer I will be gone, but I will post as soon as I get back. :)


	7. Chapter 7, Part 1

OH MY GOSHELS! I haven't posted for _TIME! _I went on a trip. My writing brain was out of whack. I was being lazy. You know how that is. Next time I take this long to write another chapter, please scream at me. And pull my hair, too.

Previously on _Gilmore Girls…_

I don't watch _Gilmore Girls._

So far Heloise has been kid-napped, sort of, Jimmy is in Lendsville, and Beezy is clueless.

Please leave a review! If you don't, I'll procrastinate and never write again. Peer pressure is what always gets me going! :D (Or even if you're not my peer, if you still yelled at me that'd be cool.)

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Chapter 7, Part 1 (For explanation, see comment at the end)

"_Fifteen days on the tundra…This is it… The final countdown…"_ _A buff and dirty camouflaged man clutched a shotgun and snaked his way through a deep and murky swamp…_

"_My days here are numbered. I've already wrestled three gators, caught a number of beautiful snakes, and saved a small village from certain doom, but it's become obvious what the real reason for my being here is…"_

_The rugged man hid behind a few tall blades of grass and looked around cautiously. "After all this time, my true objective is finally clear. If I don't find a hamburger soon, I might never eat one again..."_

"Drama queen." Beezy slumped back into the couch and began sucking out of a soda can. Almost as soon as he began, he drained the container of its contents and threw it at the wall with a loud burp. He turned to Jimmy and gestured at the TV. "This guy is full of baloney. He makes a big deal out of everything!"

Jimmy shrugged. "Well, he has been out there for a while. I'd be dying for a burger, too."

Beezy shook his head. "If he was really a survivor man, he'd be more prepared," he reached into his pants and began digging around for something, "like…" He pulled out a hamburger, "me!"

The red teen shoved the smelly burger into his mouth and began chewing sloppily. Jimmy winced, and Beezy gave him a startled look. "Sorry, did you want some?"

Before Jimmy had any time to answer, the doorknob started rattling and a small voice could be heard from the other side.

"It's locked," it said. "He might be in here."

There was some shuffling behind the door and a few loud knocks. "We know you're in there!" It was Sammy. "Come out with your hands up!"

Beezy shrieked and jumped into Jimmy's arms. "JIMMY! THEY'VE FOUND US! Quick, though the secret portal!" He leapt at the TV screen.

The door swung open. Sammy, followed by a few Lendsvillians, peered inside. Jimmy and Beezy had scrunched themselves up in a corner hiding behind an old television and a couple of chairs they dragged in.

"Beezy, get out of the closet," Sammy ordered. "Your father is looking for you." He pointed at Jimmy. "What are you doing here?"

Beezy wrapped an arm tightly around Jimmy. "Jimmy came to visit me. Don't try to make him leave, he's not going anywhere!"

Sammy sighed. "Jimmy, get out. Lucius specifically told me to make sure you didn't show up here."

Jimmy opened his mouth to speak but was quickly interrupted by his larger companion. "He's not leaving! And anyway, he didn't show up _here_, he showed up at the front of the building."

Once again the blond tried to speak. It was Sammy who butted in this time. "Where he 'showed up' isn't the point. Lucius doesn't want him in Lendsville because he's afraid he'll destroy everything!"

Jimmy made one last weary attempt to speak. "I'm -"

"- Let me do the talking, okay buddy?" Beezy clamped a claw over the blonde's mouth. "So what you're saying is my dad doesn't want Jimmy here because he doesn't want him to destroy everything that my dad is trying to fix so that he can destroy everything later? Why not keep him here and let him destroy everything that my dad is trying to fix so that he doesn't have to destroy it later… But I guess if Jimmy destroys it in the way that he destroys things, he'll actually be fixing it, in which case my dad should still let him because then he's kinda doing the work."

"Beezy, that doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't make sense is why they put a lock on a closet."

"Get out!"

"Fine," he shouldered his way past Jimmy and stepped out the door, "But I don't see why dad wants spend time with me all of a sudden. It's not like he was so interested in me before."

"Your father wants to teach you abou-"

"BORING!" The devil pushed Sammy to the floor and started down the hall.

"BEEZY J. HEINOUS, YOU GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!"

"Whatever…" Beezy's voice echoed and faded down the hall.

Jimmy hopped out of the closet and helped Sammy to his feet. "Aw, don't worry. I'm sure Beezy will come around after he takes another nap. Is there anything I can help with?"

"Yes, you can leave!" Sammy brushed some dirt off his shirt and glared at Jimmy, who laughed.

"Oh Sammy, you're so funny! Hey, have you seen Heloise?" He asked, looking worried.

The goblin groaned. "Don't tell me you lost her! Lucius is going to kill me!"

Jimmy shook his head, "No, I didn't lose her. I haven't even seen her since I got here. I think Beezy lost her."

"It's more likely that she wandered off," Sammy sighed, "I swear, she does these things just to get me in trouble. If Lucius finds out that she's missing, I'm dead!" He threw a hand up to his forehead dramatically.

Jimmy smiled and gently led Sammy's hand down. "You're being silly. Lucy won't get mad; it wasn't your fault."

Sammy shook his head and pointed at Jimmy. "It doesn't matter if I did it; he's going to blame me anyway! And he'll blame you, too!"

Jimmy rolled his eyes. "I don't get it, why is this such a big deal? She wanders off all the time."

"He's going to think that she ran away!"

"Why would she do that?"

"To get out of work!" The goblin groaned, "Can you imagine what he'll do to us if he thinks that?"

"Sammy, you're overreacting."

"Find her! As long as you're here, FIND HER! And try not to screw anything up…"

Jimmy winked. "Click, click."

… _Over the sidewalk and under the street, to Heloise we go… _

Heloise yanked despairingly at her arm, now frantic for escape. She had no idea how long Mermitrude had been forcing her along and she was becoming more and more desperate for fresh air.

Noticing Heloise's distress, Mermitrude looked back at the child and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Heloise! We're almost there! Just a little…" She stopped suddenly and frowned. "Was it night when we left? Yes, I think so." She closed her eyes and began sniffing the air, absentmindedly releasing Heloise in the process.

Heloise began to run as quickly as she could, feeling a wave of relief wash over her as she made her escape. She had thought about punishing the woman but had decided that it wasn't worth risking getting captured again. It was a better idea to just go back to the factory and hope that Mermitrude wouldn't follow… She was going the right way, wasn't she?

The monster groaned as realized that she had been so caught up in trying to break free that she hadn't paid attention to what direction they had been going. There were tunnels everywhere that all looked the same, and it was dark aside from a flashlight Mermitrude had pulled out of her hair when they had first entered the sewer. There was no way she'd be able to navigate through the underground labyrinth without someone to help her, and she certainly wasn't going to use Mermitrude. She looked back to where the strange woman was.

The frog had pressed her face up against the wall and was inhaling deeply. "I think it's daytime now, do you?" She mumbled, seemingly too concerned with what she was doing to care if the girl answered.

Heloise ducked behind a corner and looked around, just barely able to make out an image in the pitch black. Narrow tunnels branched out from each other in all directions with ceilings so low that a few times during their struggles Mermitrude would bumped her head, although that seemed to do the creature little damage. There was a long, thin strip of concrete on the left side of the tunnels, or the right depending on which way you were facing, meant for walking. On the other side there was a large dike filled with gunk which Heloise presumed to be the actual sewer. There was a bit of water flowing down through the pit, making it look something like a small, filthy stream. To the girl's surprise, it smelled wonderful.

She realized that the only way the water could smell like that would be if it were perfumed, so it would make sense that if she went in the opposite direction of the current she would eventually reach its source back in town. When it got too dark to see, she could just follow her nose.

She gave Mermitrude one more look before taking off.

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To be continued VERY SOON.

NOTE: Because of my slowness in updating I've decided to post a part of the next chapter early. I haven't done anything in so long that I'm a bit out of shape when it comes to writing and I figured that I had better get something 'out there' before I stopped writing at all. Next time I post it will still be chapter 7... PART 2 FLAVORED!

YAY! REVIEW! :D


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